The Legacy of Hulk Hogan

Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk the truth now. I can't hide it. I can hold it in somewhere. A daily program powered by the Truth Network.

This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak. Or mine. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host.

Where pop culture crosses paths with biblical truth. And yours truly, the one and only Russian nightmare.

Well, formerly Russian nightmare.

Now, as Stu Epperson likes to say, the devil's nightmare. But I'm in studio back live here on Two Talk Live. But I've got a special guest with me in studio, a dear, dear, dear, dear, dear friend of mine, none other than Roy Jones Esquire. Welcome, Roy, back to True Talk Live. It's good to be back with you, Nick.

Thank you for that warm welcome. Yes, sir. And of course, you're no stranger to Truth Radio. I think you've been on this show with me before. Oh, I have, yes.

I think it was sometime last year or the year before. Yeah. And of course, you've been a guest. In fact, we won't let the cat out of the bag, but earlier we recorded a man up, it's time to man up show with yourself talking about men and what it means to be a godly husband and a godly father. And how we can, you and I can best minister to men, right?

Amen. Amen. Good show.

So, yeah, I'm excited for keep your eyes open for that one. And, and, uh, and then, of course, QA with Cole Off is the other one that that I host here at Truth Radio. And, you know, I was just, I was asked, and for those who, maybe if you're looking into the subject title with what has recently happened, Roy, some major news in the wrestling world, or as down here in the D, in the, well, not deep south, I guess, would be like Louisiana and stuff, right? But you're far enough south to come. We'll just say the south, right?

Down here in the south is something that rocked the wrestling world. The wrestling world. The wrestling world. And of course, most probably already know, referring to the passing of Terry Bolea, aka Hulk Hogan, right?

Now, now, Roy, be honest.

So we're here at Truth Talk Live, so you got to tell the truth. Were you a Hulk Hogan fan? I wouldn't say a fan. I mean, I admired him, the fact that he was, but I was, you were my dad's, one of my dad's favorites.

Okay, I was one of your dad's favorites. Yeah, yeah.

So, and I, okay. I remember the before you, the Johnny Weaver days, and all that stuff when I was growing up, and the Briscoe brothers, which we were talking about earlier. Jack and Jerry Briscoe, and yeah, Johnny Weaver. I know, did you know I had the pleasure of actually stepping in the ring for a handful of times against Johnny Weaver? Did you, really?

Yeah, he was like in the twilight of his career.

Now, for those who don't know, because you know, we're broadcasting all over the place, Johnny Weaver was legendary in what was called the Mid-Atlantic Territory, basically North South Carolina, Virginia, a little part of Georgia, maybe, or whatever. But, and, and his, do you remember his favorite, his famous, his famous finishing move? Do you remember? I'm going to really test your knowledge here. I can see him doing something I have, I can't.

He was famous for the Sleeper holds the sleeper hold. And because he was in the twilight of his career, and typically in that world, you know, when a guy knows that, you know, his career is coming to a close, and then there's a young upstart buck like me coming along who's greener than green, greener than the Kentucky grass. Anyway, you know, they're gracious enough to, what they call in those days, put you over. And, you know, in other words, for you to win and to make you look good, to make you shine. Start opening your doors.

Yeah, to pass it on, right? And so I had the privilege of breaking out of the famous Johnny Weaver sleeper. uh several times and then he felt the wrath of the Russian sickle a few times. And because he was up there in age, I didn't want to take his head off.

So I I tried to be kind. You have to respect your elders. I tried to respect my elder. That that's ex exact That's exactly right. In fact, speaking of making men shine, quick story on the million-dollar man Ted DiBiase.

As we dive deeper here in a little while, or over the course of our hour together, when Hogan first was coming into the WWF, as it was then, now WWE, Apparently, I was hearing Ted share this story that they came to him at the Madison Square Garden, so the infamous Madison Square Garden in New York, and said, Ted, we really want you, we really think this guy, we have high hopes for this guy and really want to make you to make this guy shine. Like, really make him look good, and said, you know, Ted was a business guy. He's like, no problem. And he did. He went out and did what we would call the job.

and and made him made him look good. He said Hogan never forgot that. And in fact, you know, fast forward down the road, somewhere down the road, Hogan came to him and said, It's payback time, brother. It's payback. In other words, for you doing that, it's now my time to help make you shine.

And so he like Ted was teamed up with Andre the Giant and going against Hogan. I think Hogan and Savage and a series of matches all over the place. And he said, Hogan was true to his word. Wow. True to his word.

You know, he said, after the match in Madison Square, he said, I'll never forget this, Ted. Thank you. I'll never forget this. And he was true to his word. Wow.

So, anyway, but we'll dive more into that. I want to do anybody who knows me and doing these Truth Talk Lives is I like to throw a little trivia out there and maybe give out one or two or three autograph 8x10s. And Roy, don't shout out the answer here, but I'm going to test the audience here. According to Psalm 90, how many years are like a day to? The Lord.

So, according to Psalm 90, and going to have you call in to 866-348-7884. That's 866-348-7884. 88634 truth. How many, according to Psalm 90, how many years are like a day to the Lord? Seven years, nine years, a thousand years, one hundred years.

Call us and love to send you and personally autographed eight by ten that we would get that out to you.

So, uh, Check that out.

Some of you are maybe running to your Bible right now or pulling it up on your little smarty phone. I don't know, but we'll see. According to Psalm 90, how many years are like a day to the Lord? Seven years, nine years, a thousand years, one hundred years. Now, don't shout the answer.

Do you know the answer, Roy? Out of curiosity, just say yes or no? Yes, you do, okay, because you asked me not to quiz you. You're like, man, I'm not going to give you my answer, but I know the answer.

Well, good, good, because I want someone to call in and be able to win an 8x10 autograph photo. And so you give us a call, 866-34TRUTH. And when we come back from our first break here, we're just going to dive a little deeper and talk about Mr. Hogan and the impact that this icon had really worldwide. I mean, you know, there's guys like Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, many others that have had an impact.

But not to that level. But to that level. And because he crossed over not only from the squared circle, as we affectionately called it, but he crossed over as well to obviously the movies and to television and a reality show. And so just a. A lot there that he was able to delve into and make it even larger than life named for himself.

So, yeah.

So, all right.

So, waiting on that first caller. Give us a call at 866-8666. Three four eight. 7884 and want to see who'd be. If you're a wrestling fan out there, I want to be able to send you an autograph.

Yeah, 8 by 10 autographed of photo.

So what what um So what do you do you have a When you think of the name Hulk Hogan, what pops in your head? Just hulksters, you know, he's always talking about his little hulksters and just ripping off his t-shirt. And, of course, you know, it was a large. Stature man, at least in his early days. I understand because of recently he had lost several inches due to his neck and back injuries, but and just very flamboyant, you know, and just extremely flamboyant.

Very charismatic, right? Yeah, and just had a, but he always seemed to have a smile on his face, you know, even in the midst of it all. And reading up on him, it was interesting. You were talking about all the different things he's done post-career and through his career. It was, I saw where he was a musician early on, actually played in a band, which is one of the things you and I were talking about pre-show.

That's where Jack and Jerry Briscoe saw him, was in a band. It wasn't in a wrestling or an athletic competition, saw him in the band, then introduced him to one of the promoters. That's crazy, right? I think we have somebody who has an answer to our trivia question when we come back. And the very first time I ever saw Terry Hogan and his partner in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

When we come back, we have more. Don't go away. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Hey, welcome back. Two Talk Live, the Key Co-Off.

Yours truly here with... Roy Jones Esquire, Roy. Esquire, I'm not an attorney, folks, and I'm not part of the royal family. But Nikita thinks of me as part of the royal family. It's a good thing.

I do, I do. Hey, we got several callers here with the answer to the trivia. We're going to go down to Liberty, South Carolina with Andy. Thank you, Andy, for holding on. Are you there, Andy?

Hey, guys, how are y'all doing? We're doing well. You are on the air. Thank you for your patience, Andy, through the break there. And how are things in Liberty, South Carolina?

Scorching. Scorching. Hey, random question. Does the name Eric Bowman mean anything, Andy, down there at Liberty? Uh-huh.

Yes, I know Eric. I know about the story of his daughter. I sure do. I know Eric. Oh, you know all about the daughter and when he was mayor and all of that, huh?

Yes, sir. No, know him real well, but where Aquinas is, yes.

Well, I don't know if he's listening today, but the fact you know him means I'm just going to pray for you, Andy. I just want you. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Incredible daughter.

Incredible story about his daughter. I've actually had him sharing that in the book he wrote on that whole tragic encounter, but how that was turned into God's glory there with him.

So, well, Andy, so you have an answer to our trivia question here. Yeah, a day is like a thousand years, thousand years is like a day to the Lord. Come on, boom.

Now, I said Psalm 90 just out of curiosity. Bonus points here, Andy. Do you know which verse in Psalm 90? I don't know. I'm going to guess 10.

Well, that's a good guess. I don't remember. Your autograph picture isn't prevalent on getting that answer right. You already got the other answer right. Wonderful.

Psalm 90, verse 4. Psalm 90, verse 4. A thousand years as though a day, a day is a thousand years, right?

So I don't remember it from now on. Come on, come on.

Well, Andy, you hang on, and my man Nick there, our producer, is going to get your address. And if you want the photo specifically personalized to you or somebody else, just let him know. And we'll get that out to you, okay? Before you hang up anything, where is Liberty, South Carolina?

Well, Liberty is j in between two towns. One you know is Clemson, where Clemson University is. And the other is Easley.

So it's about 25 miles toward Clemson or toward Atlanta from Greenville.

Okay, good. All right. And if you run into Eric Ballman, just tell him the Russian Nightmare loves him, okay? Him and his family. I will run him down and let him know.

All right, Andy. God bless you, man. Thank you for listening to True Talk Live. Thanks for calling. You too, thank you.

All right, all right.

Well, one trivia question down, and you know, we had other callers coming in with the answer. I'm going to give another trivia question here, and we'll see, just see how good these callers or someone else is. The story of David killing Goliath is found in which Old Testament book, Roy. Don't give the answer, Roy. The story of David killing Goliath is found in which Old Testament book?

2 Samuel. 1 Kings First Chronicles or Or for Samuel, okay?

So you can call in to 866-348-7884. That's 866-34 TRUTH. And by the way, we are on Facebook Live today as well, Nikita Cola Facebook Live, Roy.

So I'm glad you got that dome shined up there and looking good because people are going to be looking at you on Facebook. I was wondering why you had a little bit of stubble grow, and now no, you didn't want your shining like that's right. I did.

Well, either that or I just didn't have time to shave.

So anyway, which the latter would probably be more true. Yeah, I wasn't going to say that. Yeah, I thought about shaving it.

So I was teasing the audience really with. With the first time I saw Hulk Hogan, right? Which nobody had a clue.

So I was, Roy, I was in college. I was in college and working out on what used to be Highway 12 is now Highway 394, like part of the interstate system. But back then it was just Highway 12. And one of my buddies from high school, Jim Younger, had opened a gym called The Gym. And it's where all of us muscle heads worked out.

You know, all of us meatheads, maybe I should say. Maybe that's a better description. All of us meatheads. Do you still work out, man? You look good, dude.

Yeah, three days a week. Three days a week. Started back a year ago.

Okay. Man, you look great. Thank you. You really do. And Roy, I vividly remember, like, right now, like, so.

Where they're pumping iron, and we had this big, big garage door. Um, and in walked these two behemoth guys, like giants-I mean, like giants, like bigger than life, right? I'm in college, and uh, I think it was my sophomore year of college. And man, every head turned-like, they walked in those double doors and walked all the way through the gym.

Well, at the opposite end is where the office was, so they walked all the way through, just larger than life, strolled through the gym, right? And everyone's, you know, just kind of whispering, you know, man, who is that? And I remember going and peeking out the big garage, and look, they had a Lincoln town car with Florida plates on it. It was obvious that was their car, right? Big old town car, right?

For these two guys. And I'm like, okay, whoever they came up from Florida. And so nobody really said that.

Well, they leave, and everyone goes rushing over to younger, younger. Ah, a couple new wrestler guys just coming into the AWA, into the territory. And so, for those who are wondering right now, including maybe yourself, Roy, well, who was with him? Are you wondering? Yeah, I am wondering who's with him.

When you say two, two, two, two, pretty big guys.

Now, Terry was a little bit bigger than the other, but the other one's still big, too.

Well, he would go on to become. I'll just go ahead and give it away. I'm going to let people think about it for a moment. It would be none other than Brutus the Beefcake, Brutus the Barber. Beefcake.

That's who it was.

Now, neither of them were known as either of them. in that moment. You know, my my sophomore, it was like late seventies. And that they were coming in, a little run, a stint in the AWA before going over to the WWF and, of course, making the splash that they made. Right?

So. Pretty amazing. Pretty amazing. Let me see. It looks like we got someone here before we go further in the story down over in Greensboro, North Carolina, might have an answer to our trivia question.

Kyle, help me out. I've already butchered your first name. Tell me your first name. Hey, Mr. Koloff, my name is Khalil Belk.

I'm a former college wrestler, high school wrestling coach, and pro wrestler, also. Come on, man.

Well, great to have you on Tooth Talk Live.

So, Khalil, how you say it? Yes. Yeah, Khalil. Khalil.

Okay, I did okay with it. Roy is here coaching. Roy is here coaching me.

So Roy's helping me over here.

Well, great to have you with us. You're over in Greensboro.

So you did some amateur wrestling. What class? Oh, 197, 184 pounds. All right, man, that's awesome. I so I tell guys like you, I'm like, okay, so you did the real thing.

You did the real stuff.

So No, I'm o well, I'm also a parasper also. Oh, okay, both. She crossed over from from the amateur ranks to the professional ranks. Yes, sir. I wrestled for a Firestar Pro.

Uh oh, very cool. Yeah, I used to tell guys like Mike Rotundo and the Steiner brothers and Dr. Death Steve Williams: hey, you start doing some single legs and chicken wings on me, I'm out. Like, you can get your hand raised. I'm here for the entertainment side of things.

Don't be trying that stuff on me.

So, but hey, so do you have an answer for my trivia question, the story of David killing Goliath? Is it 1 Samuel? Boom! You got it, man. Yeah.

And this was a little tougher, so I want to ask you to quote the actual verses. But yes, you got it. 1 Samuel chapter 17, verses 40 through 54 is the story. Chapter 17, verse 40 through 54. And appreciate you calling in today.

And so, real quick before I let you go, so how long have you been on the Pro Circuit? About a year and a half. I had a couple things so far. I've been in a couple battle royals, I had a couple tag team matches. I've been in one triple threat, and I had a one-on-one net so far.

Very good. Good for you. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't went over yet.

Okay, well, hey, you got to pay your dues, as they say in the industry. Yep, sir. Got to pay your dues.

So you just be patient. My best advice I'd give to you is just be patient. Don't act like you know everything. Act like you don't know anything. And just humbly, humbly approach it from that perspective, okay?

Yes, sir. All right, stay tuned or hang on here and let Nick get your address, and we'll get you an 8x10 autograph sent out, okay? Oh my god, thank you. All right, give him your address. All right, don't go away.

Talk more about the incredible Hulk Hogan when we come back. Truth talks. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back, welcome back to Talk Live. We're here talking about Hulk Hogan, and throwing a few trivia questions out there.

It is truth, truth talk. And so we do like to weave the Bible into these conversations in addition to talking about today, somebody's life. One more trivia question before we wrap up today, see if we get another winner. We've already had two. In which city did Solomon rule over Israel?

In which city did Solomon rule over Israel? Shechem? Jerusalem, Gibeon, or Hebron? Which city? did Solomon rule?

Over Israel. And so call us at 866-348-7884. That's 866-34-TRUTH. If you know the answer to that question, and we'll get you an 8-by-personally autographed 8x10.

So, Roy, we're talking about Hulk Hogan. Obviously, he's made a big splash in the wrestling world going from those early days in Minneapolis when I saw him walking through the gym, bigger than life, and then he became bigger than life. He did. Like, literally became bigger than life. You know, probably, you know, some arguably might say that, you know, the best known wrestler of all time.

Although, you know, worldwide. Yeah, you could go down a list and. Certainly, a lot of greats in the wrestling business. And we mentioned that, you know, his success even outside of the ring. Any big matches before we go to the success outside of the ring?

Any big matches that maybe pop into your head? Andre the Giant. Andre the Giant. When he picked Andre Giant up, and I know he had to have a little bit of an assist to get airborne, but it's just to pick up, what was it, 500 and something pounds? Yeah, I think Andre is biggest at 550 or something like 7'4.

You and I both know as weightlifters that to get that much weight off the ground, you better leverage yourself. And Hogo's no slouch. I mean, he's about 6'8, I want to say 6'8, 6'9, 300. Maybe 330 or so, I don't know, a big dude. Yeah, yeah.

And I was fortunate. I never stepped in the ring with him, worked against him or worked with him, but I met him over the years. I had the privilege of meeting him one time in Charlotte during some matches after I'd already retired when he came across. And, of course, then he repackaged himself as what they call a heel in wrestling, as Hollywood Hogan, you know, part of the NWO. And maybe that was a precursor into his Hollywood days of stepping outside the ring and into the movies.

Getting into acting, yeah. Yeah. And I think he was in Rocky III, according to Wikipedia. And then, of course, No Holds Barred and Suburban Commands. And then, of course, he had a couple of TV shows, I believe, too, Nick, that he was involved in as well.

What's interesting, you and I were talking pre-shows that he was actually a bassist. He played the bass guitar, as we mentioned with him meeting Jack and Jerry Briscoe, as we said just a few moments ago on the show, but apparently played in the band for like 10 years. Yeah. And was well known in the Florida area. That's amazing, right?

Guy that size, and then all of a sudden he goes off into the wrestling career. You know, the irony behind the like, I think the reality show was Hogan Knows Best. Yeah. So here, here's the irony there. A couple things come to mind.

One, you know, careful when you get involved in those reality shows, of which our family was a part. I remember about 10 years ago.

Some don't know this, but every now and then I run across a young girl that goes, Dad, I know that guy from somewhere. And then she clicks and she goes, Oh, he's that preacher guy from Preacher's Daughters. And the dad will go, No, he's a wrestling dude. What are you talking about? Preacher?

And they like, I literally have seen him kind of argue over that, but they're both right. Right?

They're both right. But yeah, the Hogan's knows best. From what I gather and heard over the years, was that that show actually was not a benefit to his family. And, you know, when you start. Doing things like that and exposing your family in that way, sometimes it can be more detrimental than beneficial.

And that was unfortunate. The other things that come to mind, too, is with that is: I don't know about Hogan knowing best, but I know Father knows best. Amen. I remember the old-time show. Remember the old-time show, Father Knows Best.

But of course, I'm referring to our Heavenly Father. Yeah. At the end of the day, he's actually the only one that knows best, our Father in heaven, right? Exactly. And which, even with all his accomplishments in the wrestling ring.

All of his accompl accomplishments outside of the wrestling ring. All that said, he Hogan made a public profession of faith kind of in the very latter part here of his life. Yeah, like you and I were chatting about, he I think it was in the last 18 months that he made a real open profession that he had really surrendered all to God and that Jesus Christ was his Savior. I think you had mentioned that Earlier on, like many men may have made a commitment when they're in high school or as a teenager, but they kind of gotten away from that path. And of course, if you look at the career path, you see how easy that is to happen, right?

Easy to get distracted by success, right? Very much so. And then I think he had a big hurdle in 2007 when he had a video come out that created some issues within different communities because of some of the narrative he had and what it was. Off-color kind of comments. And at one point, I think WWF completely erased him from their website and the whole deal.

But yeah, there's a quote. I found a quote where he said, Once you're a Christian, you've accepted Christ as your Savior, you're not going to perish, but you're going to have everlasting life. He said, that belief is pretty much the only thing. That is real to me. That's a big statement.

Profound statement, isn't it? Very, very profound. I mean, when you think about all the things he accomplished, all the things that he did, and even, Roy, when I related to pro-wrestling, of course, you know, you and I have been friends a long, long time, and we've shared lots of stories back and forth. And, you know, the Russian Nightmare is not from Russia. Yeah.

Right. For those who still don't know out there in listening land, I just burst somebody's bubble. I know, but go get Nikita, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption, a print copy or download it off of Amazon. You'll get the full story. Like, wait, wait, wait, what?

What? Nikita Kolov's not from Russia? There's more to that story, but it wasn't real, right? I still laugh about the story you told me about the lady driving three hours because she thought you were Russian. She started speaking to you in Russian.

In Russian, and then got mad when I told her I wasn't from Russia. Got so mad, like the little child that was with her didn't even get an autograph. Like, she six hours in a car to meet her hero in wrestling, and he's not even really from Russia. No, like, oh, so it really. Really, so when I look at Terry's quote, that belief is pretty much the only thing that is real to me.

What are your thoughts on that comment?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is. The amount of financial success he had, and that you often hear people say money doesn't provide happiness, and it doesn't. Here's a guy who had a multi-millionaire, and I don't know what his exact net worth was when he passed, but obviously wasn't wanting for anything, could have anything he wanted. And here that he's openly admitting that that's where the only thing that matters is his relationship with Christ.

So that should tell all of us something, especially if you get. Downtrodden on yourself about things that aren't going quite so well, or maybe you don't have the money you think you should have, or you don't have the possessions you think you should have. If you've got a relationship with Jesus Christ, you've got everything that you need. And this life is temporal, including everything that's provided. His fame, his cars, all the things that he was known for was temporal.

It didn't follow him to the grave, didn't follow him to eternity. And that's what we've got to be mindful of. And 100 years from now, there's a pretty good chance. Nobody even knows who he was. Nobody's going to even know who he was.

Here's another quote I found as well. It's a picture of him being baptized about a year ago, or recently, anyway, where he said, quote, greatest day of my life. He said, knowing of Jesus and knowing him are two different things. Knowing of Jesus and knowing him are two different things. Come to him.

He'll clean you up. He's the only thing that really matters. Amen. He said as well. And you You know, I know you can relate to that.

I can relate to that. Each of us have had our own faith journey to the foot of the cross. And I know having been in that profession and the success and all the things that lure you away from the foot of the cross, whether it be women or drugs or alcohol or a whole host of things. Pride. Big houses, fast cars, just all of it that can tempt us.

and take us away from the real true meaning of life and what's really important in life. And certainly for myself, that's part of my story. I reached the pinnacle and had a number of world championship belts under my waist, but when I walked away from wrestling, I still realized there's still something missing. There's a God-shaped hole in our hearts, and he's the only one that can fill it. No amount of success, no amount of fame.

No amount of fortune, no amount of success can feel that that's how God created us with putting a longing and a desire in our hearts.

Now, some, as you know, Roy, you know, just can continue to just stiff arm him or give him the heisman, but For those who accept them and into their life, life's never the same, right? Amen. It's such a, and it sounds a little bit corny, but it is a life-changing experience when you realize that the happiness comes from what the Father provides versus the things that you obtain or the possessions you're able to acquire.

Well, tag onto that, you used the word happiness.

So, you know, happiness is a feeling that, you know, in the moment. It is. But what we should be searching for, what I would encourage and challenge everyone out there to be searching for, is true joy. True joy. True joy, right?

True joy. And a cool acronym I heard for joy is Jesus Others Yourself. Like putting Jesus first. He's number one priority, first and foremost, over anything and everything else. Marriage, children, stuff we acquire, fame and fortune.

And then others right behind him. And then be a servant to others. You know, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, right? And then putting yourself there in last place. That's hard, isn't it?

Very hard, yeah, very hard for those that have worked hard to do the things they do. But there's nothing more rewarding than when you're when you're the last because you truly are looking out for others. And then and that that's what fatherhood's about, right? And what being the husband's about. It's about Jesus, it's about others, which is your family, and then yourself.

So it's a great example.

So I don't know if I'm waiting to see if we got another caller for trivia here. It looks like that one may be a little tougher.

So I'm going to throw a different one out there. Where did Paul write the book of Philippians from? His home, prison, the temple, or the desert? Where did Paul write the book of Philippians from? His home, prison, the temple, or the desert?

You can call 866-3487-884. That's 866-34-TRUTH. And perhaps, Roy, I can give one more 8x10 away today. It'd be a good thing. I'm hopeful.

It would be a good thing. I know there's, you know, here in the, again, here in the south, there are a few wrestling fans I've run into from time to time. Yeah. Think about us at the restaurant a couple years ago. You remember we were at Whataburger, or Big Burger Spot there in Greensboro?

Yeah. And that little Little League team showed up, and their dad was the coach. And so you and I were sitting at the table and then we were walking out. They come out right behind us. And I could tell he was wanting to ask, are you him?

And so I went over and I said. Are you wanting to know if that's Nikita? They said, Yeah, yeah. And they said, I thought that might be him, but I wasn't sure who you were. I said, Well, I'm nobody, but I said, That is Nikita.

That's not true, Roy. You are somebody. You are loved by Jesus and loved by me.

So, hey, when we come back in our final segment, a few more highlights about the Hulkster Hulk Hogan and give you some insights and thoughts. Don't go away. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Hey, hey, hey. Welcome back, Nikita Koal, your host here on Truth Talk Live today, here along with Roy Jones Esquire in the house with me.

He loves it every time I say that. But hey, appreciate you being a part of Truth Talk Live, being a listener to Truth Radio. And be sure to go check out all the incredible podcasts and broadcasts and download the Truth app if you don't have that and you have access to all the radio stations. And you'll be glad you did and just get access to everything.

So just okay, I'm going to shout this question out one more time just to see if we do get one more caller who wants to win an 8x10. Where did Paul write the book of Philippians, his home? prison, the temple, Or the desert. Roy, don't give me an answer, but do you know the answer? Do you think?

I'm struggling on that one.

Okay, yeah, hold that thought. Hold that thought right there. 866-348-7884. If you know where Paul wrote the book of Philippians, give us a call and would love to get an 8x10 autograph sent out to you.

So, Roy, let me ask you: So, Hogan comes out. You know, towards the latter part of life, you know, he's very, becomes more outspoken about his faith and his surrender to Christ. As we heard from some of the quotes, he gets water baptized. For those who maybe don't know, like, what was the significance of him getting water baptized?

Well, that's the significance of the rebirth, right? Is that you've made a decision to follow Christ and you become new.

So you've died to self.

So that's the indication of the rebirth and it's public display of that.

So could we say an outward expression of an inward decision?

Okay, an outward expression of an inward decision. And of course, you know, Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist, right? And, you know, in following suit, it's kind of interesting. John's like, man, you should be baptizing me. And he's like, no, no, no, that won't fulfill the scripture.

You know, we've got to turn this around here, you know, and you baptize me. And which leads me into a question I have for you. Hogan becomes more. Outspoken. We just said it's an inward decision that has been made, and baptism is an outward expression.

Should we share our story? Should we be bold and share our story? Of course. If we've made a professional faith of our own, of course. I totally wholeheartedly believe we should.

And the first thing you hear from most people: I'm not comfortable sharing my story. That's what I was going to say. Why don't we? Like, why don't more people share their story? They're not comfortable, or they're not comfortable sharing about their faith.

Okay. And part of that is what society has molded and shaped in these conversations. Whether it be your place of employment, whether it be your community or the friends that you're around. Everybody says, well, that's a taboo area. That's the cardinal sins to talk about politics and religion.

Well, if the country was founded on a Judeo-Christian-based belief and belief system, how is it wrong? The Bible. Yeah, the Bible. How is it wrong to have those conversations? And that's where that slow fade that has occurred that we've seen in our lifetime, where it was very important to be a part of a church.

And part of the community that believed that way, to where now it's, ooh, don't talk about frog in the kettle, right? Just slowly dissolve it away. And I mean, my gosh, you look back to, you know, Harvard University goes back, I think, 1600 something or something like that. You know, many of those universities, those Ivy Leagues were all founded to teach about preaching. Oh, yeah.

To teach, to preach, you know, kind of thing, right? Do you remember the 1800s? average student, male student was graduating in eighth grade. Because they were that far along in their academic. That far advanced.

Yeah, and they were carrying Bibles as one of their textbooks. Right. And they were learning scripture. They were learning what the Bible says. Absolutely.

Well, hold that thought. We got a caller here, Barry from North Carolina. And Barry, are you there? Yes, I'm here. Hey, where where in North Carolina are you, Barry?

Morganton, North Carolina. Morganton, yeah. I wasn't far from you this past weekend, I was in Conover. All right, yeah, that's close. Yeah, yeah, I was doing a man-up conference.

I was kind of node. I know I tried to get it out there as many people. I was at Tri-City Baptist Church. I did a full man-up conference on Saturday and preached there on Sunday. But I think they're going to have me back, Barry.

I think they're going to have me back. Oh, good. Yeah, they'll be trendy. Keep an eye out. Yeah, keep an eye out for the advertising.

I guess when they invite you back, I guess you did okay. It's when you don't get invited back that it's a problem.

So, anyway, all right, Barry.

So, so you got an answer to where did Paul write the book of Philippians? Was it Parism? Boom! You got it, Barry. Come on, man.

You got it right. Great job. Thank you, Lord. Great job. And I won't quiz you on what chapter and verse unless you know it.

Do you know it, Barry? No, no, no, no. I'm not that. My memory doesn't remember stuff real good like that. I know I need to.

Yeah, no need to pray more about that. My mind.

Well, we all need to spend more time in the word, don't we? Every one of us can spend time in the word.

Well, Philippians 113, Barry, 113.

So it is where I'll look that up after I get out. That's the address.

So, well, I appreciate you being a listener to Talk Live. Hang tight here, and my man Nick's going to get your address and who you want me to make the photo out to. And thank you for calling in today, Barry. Oh, buried in hook berry hooks. All right, hold up.

And I love your wrestling career. Follow this and start with. Oh, thank you, Barry. I appreciate it. Of course, you're talking about home.

It took me a while to figure out you wasn't really rushing. Barry, don't. I believed the storyline. Don't give my secret away, Barry. Oh, I already did.

I already did. No, I appreciate it, Barry. Yeah, I take that as a compliment for people when they say it took them a while or they're shocked when they find out.

So I take that as a compliment. Oh, yeah. I still love you.

Well, bless you. I love you, my brother. Hang tight. Let Nick get your mailing address and continue to listen to True Talk Live, okay? All right.

Thank you, sir. All right. Thanks, Barry. All right, Roy.

So we're coming close to winding it down here. Just a few minutes left. And so we talked about, you know, we should share a story. You know, why don't we share a story? People are a little intimidated maybe.

Well, I don't know the Bible. Like, Barry, I don't know the Bible all that well. But nevertheless, and maybe intimidated too, right? Like, hey, I might face opposition, questions, be persecuted.

Well, that's where, you know, if the Creator of the heavens and the earth is in our corner and in our spirit and in our walk. Don't be intimidated about what the world's going to respond or how the world's going to respond or what the world's going to say when you when you share your faith. All you're doing is planting the seed, and the Holy Spirit will take it from there. If it's intended to be harvested while you're there, it will be harvested no matter what you say. If not, it may be later on.

And back to the whole Kogan thing you and I were talking about was that he took a stand recently when he'd been one of those guys who stayed neutral in the public eye about where his political side was. But he finally came out and said, enough's enough. Our country's going in the wrong direction when they went after The candidate Trump, former President Trump at the time when he shot him. But what was important about that was a life lesson, not so much the political side, but the fact that a man said, okay, it's time to stand up for what I believe in. And that's where we as men of God need to be willing to do that, to stand up for the things we believe in.

And in a loving way. And it's okay to be firm about your stance. You don't have to give ground on where you believe and how you believe. But it's important to communicate what you do believe and for people to understand that. Yeah.

And don't be consumed by, well, I don't know the Bible well enough. You know, like Barry just said, well, no, I need to pray, you know, my memory. And we should. But, Roy, I'd like to say this too. You know, when it comes to sharing your story, just share your story.

Exactly. And let me just, if I broke it down as simple as this, here's who I was. Here's who I am now. And what happened in between? I met Jesus.

Amen. So it's just that. It's just, you know, I was whatever it is, fill in the blank. I was addicted to drugs. I was not the best person on the planet.

You know, I wasn't even that bad a person, but. At one point, I recognized I need a Savior. Right. And I need Jesus. And I made that decision, opened my heart, Romans 10, 9, and 10.

I opened my heart, confessed with my mouth, received him as Lord and Savior. And here's who I am now. And by all means, that doesn't create or make us perfect. We're still working out our salvation, right, Roy, with fear and trembling? That's right.

Throughout our whole walk. And that won't be made perfect until we're in eternity. Right. And so between now and then, to whenever, you know, Terry passed away at age 71, you know, reminded that, you know, there's no, again, there's no promise of tomorrow like we opened up the show with. You know, Hebrews says 9, 27, there's an appointed day, you know, for each of us to pass.

You know, short of the rapture. I'll just throw that in there as a little side note. Short of the rapture. Depending on your stance on that, you know, that's a whole show for another time, Roy. But outside of that, okay, between now and then.

Man, just step up, like Roy just challenged, just step up and start sharing your story and be bold with your faith and don't be intimidated. And yeah, you might get persecuted. And Jesus said, Well, they hated me. They're going to hate you too. But you know what?

The crowns in heaven are waiting, right, Roy? That's right. That's right. And back to the comment earlier: this world is temporal, everything that's around us.

So if they don't like us, that's okay. You just keep loving them and keep loving on the next person. It just be Jesus with skin on and just love them. I pray from time to time. I'm like, Lord, fill my heart with unconditional love because, boy, do I know I need that?

Because I can very easily, in my flesh, put conditions on other people. And the challenge is for us to love them unconditionally, Christian. And then show the same compassion that Jesus said. That's, in a sense, a tall order. Right?

But every one of us, would you say, Roy, that we're still capable of doing it? Especially when we turn it over to him. We're capable of doing everything. Yeah. And he told us in scripture we would do greater things than he.

And I think what he's referring to there is that very thing leading more people to Christ because, or to salvation, because we were going to have a much greater audience and opportunity and much more time to do those things. Yeah. Well, Hulk Hogan, Terry Bolea, aka made an impact on the wrestling world. As many of you out there are wrestling fans, and certainly even outside of the squared circle and in movies and television and other things that he did. But hopefully, what he'll be remembered most for, Roy, is his profession of faith.

Amen. Being baptized in water and taking a stand for that at the end of his life, knowing no promise of tomorrow, today could be the last day for any one of us. That's right. So thank you for tuning in, True Talk Live. Go check.

Out the man up show. It's time to man up. We're Nikita Koloff QA with Koloff. Until next time, the Russian Nightmare signing off. Thank you, Roy Jones.

Great to be here. Thank you.